In the Korean market, Hyundai Elantra will be discontinued at the end of this year. Hyundai explained that it was part of the electrification transformation.
The Elantra is Hyundai's compact sedan, which has undergone seven generations in 32 years since it was first released in 1990. The seventh-generation model is currently on sale. In the global market, the Elantra is a global model that competes with the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Ford Focus. In particular, the fifth-generation Elantra MD, ranked third in global sales in 2016, was recognized by consumers around the world.
At present, in the global market, the seventh generation of Elantra is still a strong competitor to Corolla, Civic. Hyundai motor still has not given up its enthusiasm for the development of compact cars, and has also developed the Elantra N high-performance series on the basis of the Elantra. The seventh generation Elantra also won the "North American Car of the Year 2021", proving its prowess.
Why did Elantra stop production?
The main reason is emissions. Major auto markets such as the U.S. and Europe, as well as South Korea, are becoming increasingly stringent in terms of emissions regulations, which requires automakers to match their products.
In the U.S., manufacturers must achieve an average fuel efficiency of 16.2 km/l by 2026. In Europe, Euro 7 is coming soon in 2025, with NOx reductions of 90% and co2 emissions of one-tenth. According to the Ministry of environment regulations, South Korea's average carbon dioxide emissions must reach 95g in 2023, 92g in 2024, 89g in 2025, 86g in 2026, 83g in 2027, 80g in 2028, 75g in 2029, and 70g in 2030.
As emissions regulations become more stringent, automakers have had to adjust their products. Because only the electrification of popular models that sell well can significantly reduce the average emissions of manufacturers. Therefore, as one of the largest sales models of Hyundai Motor, the Elantra has also reached the time of electrification transformation.
However, this does not mean that the Elantra will disappear completely, but the electrification transformation. Hyundai is preparing the Elantra-class electric car Onyx Eye 3, which the industry predicts will be the Elantra's successor.
The Onyx Eye 3 is said to use a 60 kWh battery and a 200 hp electric motor. The mileage of a single charge is expected to be about 400 kilometers. And it still has a very high cost-effective advantage, the price range is expected to be 30 million won (equivalent to about 150,000 yuan), if you get subsidies from the South Korean state and local government, it will be possible to spend 20 million won to buy (equivalent to about 100,000 yuan).
It is reported that this car also offers high-performance models, and will launch high-performance models through the N high-performance brand in the future. The battery capacity is expected to increase to 80 kWh and exert 460 horsepower through two electric motors. The acceleration time from stationary to 100 km/h is aimed at less than 3 seconds.
The Onyx Eye 3, along with the ioniq 5, which is widely acclaimed in Europe, will also strive to target the European market. Especially with Tesla's entry-level model plan for the European market being canceled, whether the Onyx-Eye 3 can occupy this position has also attracted much attention.
At the same time, Elantra plans to stop production at the end of this year or early next year, and is expected to be reborn in the form of pure electric vehicles in 2023.